Girls hockey Lakers win streak ends at eight

Skaneateles falls to state champ Beekmantown, 3-2

While there’s no question that the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team is the strongest Section III side heading into the post-season, it still had a slip-up right before the post-season that might prove beneficial in the end.

Having beaten Oswego 4-1 on Jan. 16 at Austin Ice Pavilion, the Lakers took control again in the rematch five days later at Crisafulli Rink, topping the Buccaneers by the exact same 4-1 margin to extend its win streak to eight games.

This game at the rink known as “The Fort” was originally set for Jan. 6, but got pushed back due to a weather postponement. In the two weeks that followed, Skaneateles went from a modestly improving squad to a confident, red-hot unit that was clicking in all phases of the game.

And in the rematch with Oswego, the Lakers displayed just how much it had improved, finding the net three times in the first period alone to counteract the goal by the Bucs’ Allie Rogers.

Then Skaneateles added to that 3-1 lead in the second period as Lynn Copeland led the charge, pouring in a pair of goals as Riley Donahue contributed a pair of assists. Sophie Kush and Morgan Matthews recorded the other goals, with Madison Singler, Caroline McGuigan and Allison Weiss also earning assists.

Though Oswego goalie Madi Singler prevented anything else from going in the net and made 31 saves, the Bucs found itself shut down throughout the last two periods, rarely getting shots against a stout Skaneateles defense as Amanda Lupo only had to make 14 saves.

With this win in the books, the Lakers saw Wednesday’s game with Ithaca postponed by the Arctic blast that closed most schools in the area.

And perhaps that postponement slowed down all of the momentum the Lakers had built up, for when it went back on the road Friday night, Skaneateles saw that eight-game win streak come to a halt in a 3-2 defeat to defending state tournament champion Beekmantown.